being one of the largest and busiest cities in the world, the reality of having to efficiently transfer an increasing number of air-bound travelers per year is becoming an ever-present reality that london’s airports are not going to be able to deal with in the near future. several plans have already been considered, from expanding the stansted airport to norman foster’s ‘london britannia airport’ revealed last september. one trend is becoming clear however, the creation of airports on man-made islands floating on a body of water to alleviate precious space on-land. the latest 40 billion dollar proposal will feature a four-runway air hub in the middle of the thames estuary built on the goodwin sands, a safe location on national waters that would be 40 minutes away from london through an underground railway system and will connect to other nearby european cities in the future. beckett rankine, the construction company undertaking the engineering of the ‘goodwin airport’, states that the plan is actually quite environmentally friendly and feasible as no homes will be demolished, flights can operate 24-hours around the clock as there are no residential areas nearby, and the expected economic growth will open new job opportunities for the area.

public lobby with connection to underground high-speed rail line

terminal interior

railway connection to the mainland

location 1.8 kilometers off the coast

danny hudson I designboom

dec 20, 2012

This is ridiculous. Great sic-fi, but it is never, never going to happen.

Not another ‘sustainable’ project. What about the good old environmental impact?
How does the word ‘sustainable’ apply to an airport?
Its an enormous airport with exhaust fumes, the creation of noise, fuel dumping at times, it also creates mounds of trash and consumes an enormous amount of electrical energy.
Sustainable? By whom or by what? I think not.

Ron Smith has a point in that all airports have a large environmental impact however appropriate design can limit the adverse effects. When an airport operates close to its maximum capacity, as Heathrow does, then departing aircraft have to queue on the taxiways with their engines running sometimes for up to 3/4 of an hour. Similarly arriving aircraft circle round and round over London in holding stacks burning fuel. If an airport operates with spare capacity the fuel burn of the aircraft can be minimised.
In the case of the Goodwin sands proposal I think they are suggesting that locating it offshore means that it has less impact on people’s homes which makes it more sustainable than an onshore one. Incidentally the proposal is not only not floating (that is the Gensler one) its also not in the Thames Estuary!

Why would it cause landings in the sea. Landbased airports don’t have aircraft landing in nearby high streets so why would this one have planes landing in the nearby sea????? That would be plane stupid (spelling mistake intentional)

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